Meat + Poultry - May 2005 - 26

Innovate with
Phosphate

Bob Evans

TU
R
KE
Y
◆

B
EE
F
◆

H
◆

CH ICKEN
◆

SEAFOOD
◆

F R AN KS

Innophos
LEADI NG TH E WAY
I N N EW P RODUCT
DEVELOP M ENT
We have expanded our
CURAFOS® product line to
meet your application needs.
◆ CURAFOS® OptiBind High yield and moisture
retention for meat, seafood
and poultry
◆ CURAFOS® OptiBalance Optimum yield and appearance
for meat, seafood and poultry
◆ CURAFOS® ColorSure Phosphate blend for optimum
color in turkey breast
◆ CURAFOS® BrineSolve Unique sodium
tripolyphosphate (STPP)
designed to dissolve in
the presence of salt

Questions?
Call Technical Assistance at
(866) 631-7394.

past five to 10 years," Beery says.
While Bob Evans has updated the
equipment in its plants and made
them faster, Beery says the company
doesn't want to sacrifice quality for
the sake of speed.
"Sometimes with high speed, high
volume and high efficiency ... you
can lose a little bit of quality in all of
that," he adds. "We've stuck with the
things we know how to do best. We
don't want to put anything out there
that we're not proud of."
Beery and Williams agree the best
and most popular product that Bob
Evans manufactures is still the roll
sausage. "It was one of our first products, and it continues to grow and be
a strong ingredient used for lasagna,
chili and pizza toppings," Beery says.
But the roll sausage wouldn't be the
company's mainstay
product if the company hadn't reinvented
it back in the 1990s
and promoted it as an
ingredient.
The company's sausage links and
patties also have become staple products. But recognizing that today's
consumers have little time to cook
during the week, the company has
also created products that are more
convenient to prepare. "Seventy-five
percent of all households eat breakfast

at home on Sunday morning," Williams says. "So we have roll sausage
for the weekend, and we have (microwaveable) sausage biscuit sandwiches
for Monday through Friday."
Bob Evans is still trying to find its
way in the increasingly popular grilled
sausage category. Williams says the
company isn't a leader in the segment
because it hasn't invested enough in
it. "We're not as strong as we'd like to
be," Williams says. "It just hasn't been
on our radar screen."
A testing ground
The restaurant segment began in
1967 in Rio Grande, Ohio, at the company's original store, which had nine
tables and 10 counter stools. In 1968,
the company's brass, recognizing the
success that McDonald's was having with
the fast-food hamburger, decided to
open a fast-food sausage restaurant and
sell sausage burgers.
"We promptly fell on
our face," says Williams.
The company asked its customers
why they didn't like the concept, and
the customers told the company they
liked the approach Bob Evans took
at its Rio Grande operation. So the
company converted the fast-food restaurant to something similar, and the

Call Innophos Customer Service
today at (800) 243-5052 to place
your order.

I N NOVATION I N
P HOSP HATES FOR
OVER A CENTU RY

9lnnophos
Innophos, Inc.
259 Prospect Plains Road
Building G ◆ P.O. Box 8000
Cranbury, NJ 08512-8000
Customer Service: (800) 243-5052
Telephone: (609) 495-2495
Fax: (609) 860-0138
www.Innophos.com
For more information, see Page 85
26

MEAT&POULTRY

I May 2005

The restaurant drew many truck drivers who traveled through the region. "You might say the
truck drivers did my research for me," founder Bob Evans says. "They would tell me that this
was the best sausage they ever had, and then buy 10-pound tubs to take home."

www.MEATPOULTRY.com

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Meat + Poultry - May 2005

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